This handout is presented and funded by the Massachusetts Library System, Marlborough & Whately, MA.
Using Gale INFOTRAC
InfoTrac is made up of over 28 individual databases. To find title lists for each database in a variety of
downloadable formats, click on the Title List link in the upper right of each database start screen.
Academic OneFile
Biography In Context – Includes Contemporary
Authors
Books and Authors*
Business and Company Resource Center*
Contemporary Literary Criticism Select
Educator’s Reference Complete
Expanded Academic ASAP
General BusinessFile ASAP
Advance Search includes: SIC Descriptions; Company
ProFiles; Search investment reports by ticker symbol
General Reference Center Gold
Global Issues in Context*
Health Reference Center Academic
Health and Wellness Resource Center*
InfoTrac K-12 Junior Edition
InfoTrac K-12 Student Edition
Kids InfoBits
Literature Resource Center*
Literature Resources from Gale
LitFinder*
Massachusetts History Online
New York Times (1995 – current)
InfoTrac OneFile
Opposing Viewpoints In Context*
RDS Business Suite*
Science In Context*
Student Resources in Context*
U.S. History In Context*
Gale Virtual Reference Library
World History In Context*
* Denotes resource funded by the MLS.
POWERsearch / Cross Searchable Databases
This feature allows users to easily and handily search
multiple InfoTrac databases all at once! You can either
search all the following 12 databases at once or any
combination you choose:
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Academic OneFile
Educator's Reference Complete
Expanded Academic
Gale Virtual Reference Library
General Business File
General OneFile
General Reference Center Gold
Health Reference Center-Academic
Massachusetts History Online
Professional Collection
Student Edition
The New York Times
Search example using PowerSearch: Academic Index & General Reference Center
1. Select Academic Index & General Reference Center from the PowerSearch start screen.
2. Click continue button
3. Use full-text searching, check off: Search for words in: Entire document
4. Get full-text results: Limit the results: to documents with full text
Examples (type in exactly with quotation marks):
"digital audio books" and libraries OR “day of battle” and “book review”
[The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944. By Rick Atkinson. Oct. 2007. Holt (0805062890).]
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InfoTrac Features & Tools:
Adobe Acrobat / PDF format
InfoTrac allows the user to view and print out most articles in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The article is often
laid out in its original format, full-text, often full color, and with all the original graphics and pictures. You may
view, print or save Adobe Acrobat PDF files.
Gale Bookmark feature (formerly known as InfoMarks)
Most InfoTrac articles and searches are a persistent URL. This means the web address (URL) for most articles
and searches is permanent, allowing you to bookmark, email, or embed this link in a webpage. Note that for the
Gale Bookmark feature to work, your browser must be set to accept cookies.
To bookmark an article:
1) save as you would any bookmark or favorites in your browser. You can also rename the bookmark
for future reference (the default title is the name of the InfoTrac database you are using).
OR
2) Click on the bookmark link in the upper left corner.
Once you click, you get the following choices:
• Copy the Bookmark URL and paste it into another document.
• Email the Bookmark URL to yourself or others.
See an example of an article bookmarks incorporated into a web page at:
http://www.nmrls.org/reference/urltests.html
RSS feeds / Search Alerts
Create an RSS for a search, click on the
icon to right of search results. After clicking a window will pop
up with the following message and RSS feed generated as a link (URL). To view one of the Gale feeds in your
RSS Aggregator:
1. Copy the URL that is shown below.
2. Paste the URL into your reader.
Share articles on social network site: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, del.icio.us and more!
1 - Click on orange SHARE button in the Tools menu.
Click on More to see other social networks sites.
2 - A pop-up window should appear
NOTE: if pop-up window does not appear, set browser to all popups from http://find.galegroup.com/
3 - Log into your account on Facebook, del.icio.us, etc. (you may
already be logged in).
4 - And that’s it! You now have a direct link to Gale article you
found and you can share it with all your Facebook friends!
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Translating a Document
InfoTrac allows users to translate most articles from English to Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified),
French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Korean. But, see the Gale Help note below:
Note: This machine translation is provided for your convenience only. It should not be considered a
replacement for human translation.
Citing articles in InfoTrac
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Source Citation are given at the bottom of each article screen, they include standard bibliographic
information, Gale database URL and Gale Document Number.
Citation Tools link is given on the results screen or at each individual article screen (on right). Citation
styles can be generated for MLA, APA, or Plain Text with Bibliographic Tags (Z39.80). You can also
export citations to EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager, or RefWorks software.
Gale Virtual Reference Library – a selection of Gale ebooks available online through InfoTrac. All
ebooks are accessible by multiple users 24/7. They can also be searched through the PowerSearch interface,
meaning you can search both a serials database and ebooks simultaneously. Note that many of the ebooks in
this collection are not the most recent edition available in print.
Searching Examples & Tips
Comparing the number of article retrievals between full-text general magazine databases.
Entire Document Search (all words) & Limit Search to
documents with full text
Search Terms:
As of:
1/10/11
No. of articles retrieved:
internet filter* and Librar*
Student Edition
Expanded Academic ASAP
General Reference Center Gold
Academic OneFile
InfoTrac OneFile
846
1296
1457
1679
2663
Keyword vs. Entire Document Search Comparison within InfoTrac OneFile
Most Recent vs. Relevance sorting
• Search terms: (women or female) and "fighter pilot" (Searched: 1/10/11, 11:55am)
• Limited to articles with full-text, no date limitations, Magazines tab.
Search Type
Hits
Top article
Top article
Most recent
Sorted by Relevance
Rebecca Minkoff To Add Men's Line / On being a warrior. (argument against female
Keyword - Default search
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WWD, Jean E. Palmieri. 200.5 (July
fighter pilots)(My Turn)(Column). Jerry R.
title, citation, abstract
Cadick. Newsweek (April 14, 1997).
8, 2010)
Entire Document
entire article contents
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606
Title:Hasta La Victoria Siempre:
residents of Vieques pushed out the
US Navy … / Earth Island Journal
Jacob Wheeler. 25.4 (2011): p56(5)
Code of dishonor.(sexual assaults of cadets at
the U.S. Air Force Academy). Clara
Bingham. Vanity Fair (Dec 2003)
Pertinent search examples on this topic: female fighter pilot; female w3 fighter pilot; click on News tab
See an example of this search as an InfoMark incorporated into a web page at: http://bit.ly/h1ti5I
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General OneFile: OneFile combines full-text articles from 13,000+ magazine titles, 89
news wire services and a 25-year back file. Plus indexing to, but not full-text of, The New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and The Christian Science Monitor. This is a very
comprehensive database that covers considerably more full-text sources than any other magazine database for
Regional libraries.
Basic Search –full-text, using a phrase, limiting to full-text article & specific magazine title
1. type “ipod touch”
2. click box for Search for words in: entire document
3. click More Search Options
4. click box for Limit the results … to documents with full text
5. click Browse Publication Title for journal selection
6. a new screen, tab, or pop-up, appears, use search box to find and choose a specific titles
7. click Submit to search these titles
8. you are returned to the Search Screen, note that the titles you are limiting your search by are listed
9. Results returned in reverse chronological order.
10. Results can also be viewed in relevance order, click on Sort by tab (upper right)
Basic Search – using with & near connectors
This complex looking search is using the w(with) connector to find words which follow each other and the
n(near) connector to find these words near each other in either direction.
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type emmy n25 rock and tina w2 fey
click box for Search for words in: entire document
If needed, click More Search Options
click box for Limit the results … to documents with full text
Results returned in reverse chronological order. To view in relevance order, click on Sort by tab.
Publication Search - finding journal titles & articles in specific issues
1. Choose Publication search (bright yellow bar on top)
2. type consumer reports
3. Results: Years available in a drop-box below current issues (*Note: Consumer Reports is no longer
full-text! Full-text only 1/99 – 6/09).
4. click on an issue of your choice to see entire contents for that month
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Kids InfoBits: Aimed at Elementary through Middle-School age users. A friendly interface
for kids (or adults!), all full-text articles from over 100 magazines as well as newspaper articles and maps,
photos, graphs and a dictionary!
Example 1
Enter a Search Term: global warming
click on View, articles divided by encyclopedia (The Columbia Encyclopedia), newspapers, periodicals,
reference books (Gale titles & World Almanac)
Example 2
Search with icons & hyperlinks: Mars
click on Science & Math icon, then Space & Astronomy, then Mars
Example 3
Search with icons & hyperlinks: Massachusetts (maps, flag, seal, charts & graphs)
click on Geography icon, then U.S. States, then Massachusetts, then tabs for Maps, Flags, & Seals, then Charts
& Graphs
Biography In Context: biographies from traditional Gale print sources including
Contemporary Authors, plus current full-text periodical articles.
Example 1 - Search Name
Type: matt damon
Reference = Biographies Drawn from narrative Gale
biographical publications. There can be duplication
within the various resources.
Magazine & News = up-to-date full-text articles
Websites = links to a small selection of websites,
usually contains the “official” website for the
personality being researched.
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Biography In Context:
xample 2 - Person Search
Narrow search by occupation, nationality, ethnicity, and more!
Choose & Type the following:
Search for Jack in Name
Click Add Row, choose And
Type Lowell in Place of Birth
Occupation: writer (not author).
Nationality: American
Gender: Male
Choose link for Jack Kerouac
Example 3 - Advanced Search
Search full-text of entire documents using Boolean
operators (and, or, not) for keywords, a named work,
company name, author, etc.
Advanced Search Example
Result = George Henry Thomas, Union Civil War General.
Revised: 01/10/11 - Scott Kehoe, Technology Advisor, MLS / 1-866-627-7228 / [email protected]
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